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saying: You shall not kill the innocent and righteous. O disorderly order, and lawless law, sent from the devil, written by demons, kept by the Jews even to this day! What kind of law is this, that murderers should be saved, but he who grants life to the murdered should be destroyed? For they demanded that Pilate release Barabbas, who was found guilty of insurrection and murder, but they demanded that Jesus, who gave life to those murdered by the devil, be crucified. And going out, he says, the Pharisees took counsel, how they might destroy him. O ungrateful opinion, and counsel filled with foolishness! The spring of good things poured forth benefits to them like a river, but they, even while drawing upon his grace, belched forth murderous counsels in their hearts.

Those of them who had wounds were healed and freed from their pains; but they, while having no wounds in their body, were pained, being pricked by envy. Those of them who were hungry in the wilderness were fed to satiety; and they, in an abundance of faith, were being destroyed by unbelief. The water was changed into wine; and they, not having tasted the wine, being drunk with envy, were car 61.708 ried about. They saw the flows of blood of the hemorrhaging woman stopped; and they, wasting away with malice, were dripping down. Those of them possessed by demons, being freed from the demons, were of sound mind, and they, being moved by envy, raged worse than those possessed by demons; the blind among them, having no eyes, were enlightened, and they, having eyes, were darkened. Of the deaf, as we just heard, the helix of the ear was opened; and their heart, dizzy, revolved counsels of murder. The sea, having calmed its waves, prepared itself for the Master to walk upon; and their heart foamed through the mouth waves of death-bearing reasonings. The most grievous winds calmed the violent storm of the spirit into a gentle breeze; and they, being agitated by the squall of envy, hissed a storm of the cross. O envy, root of death, the intricate disease of the heart, most sharp nail! For what most sharp nail so pricks, as envy wounds the heart that has it? And what disease so destroys the beauty of the face, as envy withers the fair-breathing flower of the soul, love? Water extinguishes fire, but ten thousand springs of teachers do not stop envy; one whetstone wipes away the rust of iron, but the five stones of David stirred up envy in Saul even more.

The lizard is said to be pale; but it is not paler than the envious. For just as a worm, eating away part of the heart of the tree, dries it up, so envy, eating away part of the heart of the one who has it, withers it. And whatever we may say, beloved, about envy, we have not yet begun to speak of its wickedness; even if the tongues of orators, or the words of philosophers, or the sayings of teachers, they will not have the strength to tell it all. Therefore, the fulfillment of the law is the love of the word, and the fulfillment of murder is the wickedness of envy. O envy, a pitch-like vessel, from Tartarus, causing shipwreck! Your ship-owner is the devil, the serpent your pilot, and Cain the lookout. For the devil gave you the store of evils; and the serpent, having piloted Adam, brought him down to the shipwreck of death; And Cain is the lookout, because through you, envy, he was the first to commit murder. Your mast from the beginning in paradise is the disobedience of the tree, your ropes are the chains of sins, your passengers are the envious, the sailors are the demons, the oars are deceits, the neck is hypocrisy, the envious are the rowers. O vessel bearing ten thousand evils!

If you seek hypocrisy, it is found there; if deceit, it is born there. Envy dwells there, enmities, battles, deceit, contention, reviling, evil-speaking, blasphemy, and whatever we may say, and whatever we may leave out, all these things the Tartarean vessel of envy carries. This vessel of envy is a flood

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λέγοντος· Ἀθῶον καὶ δίκαιον οὐκ ἀποκτενεῖς. Ὢ τάξις ἄτακτος, καὶ νόμος ἄνομος, παρὰ διαβόλου πεμπόμενος, παρὰ δαιμόνων γραφόμενος, ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων μέχρι τοῦ νῦν φυλαττόμενος! Ποῖος οὗτος νόμος, τὸ τοὺς μὲν φονεῖς περισώζεσθαι, τοῦτον δὲ τὸν τοῖς φονευθεῖσι τὴν ζωὴν χαριζόμενον ἀπόλλυσθαι; Τὸν γὰρ Βαραββὰν ἐπὶ στάσει καὶ φόνῳ εὑρεθέντα ἠξίωσαν Πιλᾶτον ἀπολυθῆναι, τὸν δὲ Ἰησοῦν τὸν τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου φονευθέντας ζωοποιήσαντα ἠξίωσαν σταυρωθῆναι. Καὶ ἐξελθόντες, φησὶ, οἱ Φαρισαῖοι συμβούλιον ἔλαβον, ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν. Ὢ γνώμης ἀγνώμονος, καὶ βουλῆς ἀβουλίας μεμεστωμένης! Ἡ πηγὴ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ποταμηδὸν αὐτοῖς τὰς εὐεργεσίας ἔβλυζεν, οἱ δὲ καὶ ἀντλοῦντες τὴν χάριν, φονοκτόνους βουλὰς ἐν καρδίαις ἐρεύγοντο.

Οἱ τὰ τραύματα αὐτῶν ἔχοντες, ἰώμενοι τῶν ὀδυνῶν ἀπηλλάττοντο· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἐν μὲν τῷ σώματι μὴ ἔχοντες τραύματα, ὑπὸ τοῦ φθόνου κεντούμενοι ὠδυνῶντο. Οἱ πεινῶντες αὐτῶν ἐπ' ἐρημίαις, εἰς κόρον ἐτρέφοντο· κἀκεῖνοι ἐν εὐθηνίᾳ πίστεως ὑπὸ ἀπιστίας ἐφθείροντο. Τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς οἶνον μετεβάλλετο· κἀκεῖνοι τοῦ οἴνου μὴ γευσάμενοι, τῷ φθόνῳ μεθύοντες περι 61.708 εφέροντο. Εἶδον τῆς αἱμοῤῥοούσης σταλείσας τὰς τοῦ αἵματος ῥύσεις· κἀκεῖνοι τῇ βασκανίᾳ τηκόμενοι κατέσταζον. Οἱ δαιμονιῶντες αὐτῶν, τῶν δαιμόνων ἐλευθερούμενοι ἐσωφρόνουν, κἀκεῖνοι ὑπὸ τοῦ φθόνου κινούμενοι χειρόνως τῶν δαιμονώντων ἐμαίνοντο· οἱ τυφλοὶ αὐτῶν ὀφθαλμοὺς μὴ ἔχοντες ἐφωτίζοντο, κἀκεῖνοι ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες ἐσκοτίζοντο. Τῶν κωφῶν, ὡς ἀρτίως ἠκούομεν, ὁ εἷλιξ τῆς ἀκοῆς ἠνοίγετο· κἀκείνων ἡ καρδία ἰλιγγοειδὴς βουλὰς φόνου περιέστρεφεν. Ἡ θάλασσα τὰ ἑαυτῆς κύματα καταστείλασα, πρὸς ἐπίβασιν ἑαυτὴν τοῦ ∆εσπότου ἡτοίμασε· κἀκείνων ἡ καρδία κύματα λογισμῶν θανατηφόρα διὰ στόματος ἤφριζε. Βαρύτατοι ἄνεμοι τὴν βιαίαν τοῦ πνεύματος θύελλαν εἰς πραεῖαν αὔραν ἐγαληνίαζον· κἀκεῖνοι τῇ ζάλῃ τοῦ φθόνου κλονούμενοι, σταυροῦ χειμῶνα ἐσύριζον. Ὦ φθόνε ῥίζα θανάτου, ἡ πολύπλοκος νόσος καρδίας, ὀξύτατε ἧλε! ποῖος γὰρ ἧλος ὀξύτατος οὕτω κεντᾷ, ὡς ὁ φθόνος τὴν ἔχουσαν αὐτὸν καρδίαν τιτρώσκει; ποία δὲ νόσος οὕτω τὸ τῆς ὄψεως κάλλος ἀφανίζει, ὡς ὁ φθόνος τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς καλλίπνοον ἄνθος, τὴν ἀγάπην, μαραίνει; Τὸ πῦρ ὕδωρ σβέννυσι, τὸν δὲ φθόνον μυρίαι πηγαὶ διδασκάλων οὐ παύουσι· μία ἀκόνη τὸν ἰὸν τοῦ σιδήρου ἀποσμήχει, οἱ δὲ πέντε λίθοι τοῦ ∆αυῒδ τὸν φθόνον ἐν τῷ Σαοὺλ πλεῖον ἐξήγειραν.

Λέγεται εἶναι ἡ σαῦρα χλωρά· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστι τῶν φθονερῶν χλωροτέρα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ σκώληξ τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ δένδρου κατὰ μέρος ἐκτρώγων ξηραίνει, ὡσαύτως ὁ φθόνος τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ ἔχοντος αὐτὸν κατὰ μέρος ἐκβιβρώσκων μαραίνει. Καὶ ὅσα ἂν εἴπωμεν, ἀγαπητὲ, περὶ τοῦ φθόνου, οὔπω ἠρξάμεθα λέγειν αὐτοῦ τὴν κακίαν· κἂν γλῶσσαι ῥητόρων, κἂν λόγοι φιλοσόφων, κἂν ῥήσεις διδασκάλων, ἐξειπεῖν οὐκ ἰσχύσουσι. Πλήρωμα οὖν νόμου ἐστὶν ἀγάπη τοῦ λόγου, καὶ πλήρωμα φόνου ἐστὶν ἡ κακία τοῦ φθόνου. Ὦ φθόνε, πλοῖον πισσοειδὲς, ταρτάρινον, ναυαγιοφόρον! σὸς ναύκληρός ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος, κυβερνήτης ὁ ὄφις, καὶ Κάϊν πρωρεύς. Τὴν γὰρ ἐνθήκην σοι τῶν κακῶν ὁ διάβολος ἔδωκε· ὁ δὲ ὄφις κυβερνήσας τὸν Ἀδὰμ εἰς ναυάγιον θανάτου κατήνεγκε· Κάϊν δὲ πρωρεὺς, ἐπειδὴ διὰ σὲ, φθόνε, πρῶτος αὐτὸς τὸν φόνον εἰργάσατο. Σοὶ ἱστός ἐστιν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἐν παραδείσῳ ἡ τοῦ ξύλου παρακοὴ, σὰ σχοινία εἰσὶν αἱ σειραὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, σοὶ ἐπιβάται εἰσὶν οἱ φθονεροὶ, ναῦται οἱ δαίμονες, κῶπαι οἱ δόλοι, αὐχὴν ἡ ὑπόκρισις, παρασχαρῖται οἱ φθονεροί. Ὢ πλοῖον μυριοφόρον κακῶν!

Ἐὰν ζητήσῃς ὑπόκρισιν, ἐκεῖ εὑρίσκεται· ἐὰν δόλον, ἐκεῖ γεννᾶται. Φθόνος ἐκεῖ πολιτεύεται, ἔχθραι, μάχαι, ἀπάτη, φιλονεικία, λοιδορία, κακολογία, βλασφημία, καὶ ὅσα ἂν εἴπωμεν, καὶ ὅσα ἂν παραλείπωμεν, ταῦτα πάντα τὸ ταρτάρινον πλοῖον τοῦ φθόνου βαστάζει. Τοῦτο τὸ πλοῖον τοῦ φθόνου κατακλυσμὸς